This is a wonderful book about acceptance, tolerance, compassion, and making assumptions. A little boy encounters a fish and says hello to him. The fish does not respond and the boy gets annoyed and thinks what a rude fish. The exact same thing happens when the he tries to greet a lion, a bee.... no response. Finally a wise old tree initiates a greeting and imparts timeless wisdom to the child. The tree demonstrates why the boy is failing at communicating to those who come from different backgrounds and cultures. The boy discovers that it is up to him to learn the language of the one he is addressing then he will get a response back, making both parties friendly and happy.

The bold vibrant illustrations are extremely expressive and match the narrative perfectly. The valuable life lesson is... just because someone does not look like you or speak your language does NOT make them rude or dismissive of you. This can be the perfect opportunity to take time to learn about each other's language and cultures and then celebrate those differences. I highly recommend this book!

I LOVE this book!!! I cannot wait to get it--I can already tell it will be a huge hit at circle time. The story is very engaging and has a wonderful message about empathy and making assumptions that will be very accessible to young kids. It's also quite humorous and is written in a very expressive, conversational style that will hold the kids' attention. There's lots of opportunities for interaction and imitation which will make it even more fun.

The art is beautiful too--bold and saturated and lively! Readers will enjoy this one thoroughly.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

I love this book for kids to understand that sometimes they need to see beyond themselves. The child in the book thinks that he is being ignored by the animals that are unable to communicate with him, rather than realizing that differences are what make us unique.

This is a simple but straight to the point book that delivers the point that just because someone doesn't speak your language does not make them rude or stupid, or annoying.

In the story, the little boy wants to speak to the fish, but finds that the fish doesn't understand him, and thinks there is something wrong with the fish. He tries to talk to a lion, with much the same results. It isn't until he speaks to a tree, that the tree asks if he tried speaking Fish to the fish, and the boy replies he didn't know that fish spoke a different language.

Good instructions on how to be compassionate for others, and to realize that we are all different, and come from different places, but if we learn to speak each others languages, it makes it that much easier.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>